


Even the Angels Have Dirty Hands

by letmegeekatyou



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, Detective Noir, F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 16:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1517513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letmegeekatyou/pseuds/letmegeekatyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna Milton is being followed by a stranger, who may or may not know her most dangerous secrets, and Charlie Bradbury is the only person Milton can trust.</p>
<p>Many thanks to llisabraeden on tumblr for the starter and graphic (http://falconsam.co.vu/post/81676871714)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even the Angels Have Dirty Hands

> Charlie Bradbury knew she was in over her head when socialite Anna Milton walked into her office. 
> 
> "I need your help."  
> "You gotta problem I can fix it."  
> "I think someone’s trying to kill me."

 

"Well, good. Not that I’m overly fond of stabbing and shooting," Charlie answered, "but danger is what I do best, and you look like the kind of danger a girl could sink her teeth into." She cocked her eyebrow at the woman with what she hoped was _je ne sais quoi_ but what she suspected was just _je ne sais pas_. Not that she lacked confidence in her work, not in the least, but there was something about a beautiful redhead in need of protection that just threw her off her game. “So, tell me, Miss…”

"Milton. Anna Milton," the woman answered, taking a seat without being asked, like she owned the place and everything in it. She might as well, Charlie thought. Her family owned half the city.

"Miss Milton. Who would be trying to kill an innocent beauty like yourself?"

"You may as well know now, Miss Bradbury. I’m not as innocent as I appear." Charlie tried to perch on the edge of her desk and had to grab at it for balance when she almost missed.

"O-oh. is that so? Well, it’s important that you be up front with me, Miss Milton. Any secret you keep from me could be your undoing," she warned, leaning closer. "So tell me. Tell me _everything_.”

"Alright." Milton took a deep breath. "It began two weeks ago. I was coming out of the offices of the Herald Tribune when I noticed a man following me. Tan coat, dark hair, but it was dark and that was all I could see. He dogged me for blocks, didn’t let up until I went inside an apartment building. Not mine, a friend’s. I thought I could shake him, but he was still there in the morning, just watching the place from the alley across the street." She was perfectly still as she spoke, except that she tugged at her necklace—a silver angel—and her eyes traced the floor. "I slipped out the back, but I’ve seen him again and again, always waiting for me, wherever I go. I am unnerved by it, more than an ordinary woman being followed by a strange man.

"You see, Miss Bradbury, I am something of a traitor to some powerful people. For years I have been writing expos _és_ about the misdeeds of my family in business and private life for the Herald Tribune, and I was recently outed by my mother, who discovered my secret during a drunken evening with her friend, the editor’s wife.”

Charlie’s attention was absolute, and it was no longer just about Miss Milton’s stunning hair or pleading eyes. She _knew_ those articles. They’d been the bane of the Milton family for years, had given her all kinds of business that had put her on the wrong side of the powerful clan, tracking down disappeared stool pigeons and following paper trails as long and dirty as the river that cut through the city, carrying all its waste and secrets out to sea.

"So, you’ve got a tail," she said, leaning forward eagerly. "But you told me you thought someone was trying to kill you. Why? What’s the creep doing besides watching?"

"That’s just it. He hasn’t done anything; he’s never approached or spoken to me," Milton was speaking quietly now, almost as if she feared spies at the keyhole. She leaned in as well, and Charlie fought to keep her heartbeat under control. "But I’ve received messages from someone, threatening ones that tell me to stop writing, or I’ll be the next disappearance for some other muckraker to investigate. Here, I brought the latest one." She handed it over, and its contents were much as she described. The note was typed, so no clues in the handwriting. This would be a tough one. "Tell me you can do something, Miss Bradbury. I place myself absolutely in your hands."

Charlie nodded. “Don’t worry, doll. I’m all yours.” Milton sighed with relief and leaned back in her chair. “You just go about your business for the next few days, and I’ll see if I can’t dig up some dirt on your mysterious friend. If you see me, you don’t know me, and don’t come back here until I contact you.”

"Understood. I am very grateful. I am not a fearful woman, Miss Bradbury, but my work is important, and I am determined not to be prevented from continuing it."

"I wouldn’t take this case, Miss Milton," Charlie said sincerely, walking her client to the door, "if I didn’t believe in your work or in you."

"Please, call me Anna," the redhead answered, offering her hand with a cautious smile. Charlie took it, feeling a summery breeze pass across her skin as she did.

"Charlie."

"Thank you, Charlie. I look forward to hearing from you." And then Anna was gone, the scent of her perfume lingering on Charlie’s skin and making her smile. _What I wouldn’t do for a doll like that,_ she thought, returning to her desk to get working. She had a life to save.


End file.
